In contrast to today's compact appliances, the microwave oven was 18 to 20 inches long and 18 inches deep, about the size of a living room end table. When the boy pulled the door closed behind him, the latch shut and trapped him inside, the chief said.

The boy was about 44 inches tall and weighed about 45 pounds. He could barely stuff himself inside the oven, Paulsen said.

"If he was 50 pounds, I don't think he would have fit inside it," he said. "It was one of those old-fashioned microwaves, probably from the early 1980s. Once he got in there, there was no way to open the latch."

(This story suggests that the microwave may have been "door up" in the back of the pick-up truck. The boy managed to wedge himself down, into the oven itself, and the door closed down behind him; he was unable to open the door from the inside. -- Bonnie)